Greetings everyone. We still have four of the five visible planets in our early evening sky and although there will be a waxing moon in the evening sky this week, it's still a fine time to go stargazing. That crescent moon will be between Venus and Jupiter on Thursday and they'll make a pretty trio in the western sky. Venus and Jupiter are both closer to the western horizon.

Mars and Saturn are high above the southern horizon and they're easy to find. Mars has been the subject of quite a bit of news in the last couple of months. It made its closest approach to Earth since 2003 last month and because it's been covered by a raging dust storm all summer, it has looked more yellow than its traditional red. But its nearness to us has made it incredibly bright and it still looks almost as bright as Jupiter.

Not only did it make its closest approach to us, this Saturday Mars reaches perihelion which means that it makes its closest point of approach to the sun for this trip. Mars will grow dimmer in our skies all month because it's getting farther away from us, but it will still be quite bright. And don't forget to have a look at Saturn above the teapot of Sagittarius.

Real beauty of our autumn skies

That waxing crescent moon won't cast a lot of light and there are some lovely sights to see. If you've noticed that it looks a little cloudy a fist-width below Saturn, it's probably not clouds you're seeing. The center of our Milky Way galaxy is located there, and the Milky Way is one of the real beauties of our autumn skies.

It arches up from that point and passes almost straight overhead. Remember I told you last month about the Summer Triangle and how those three stars were now forming a large 'X' in the sky with Saturn and Mars? It's still happening and two of the stars of the Summer Triangle are part of a famous oriental legend.

River of heaven

The Chinese called the Milky Way the River of Heaven and the legend is about a celestial weaver of the cloth of heaven who fell in love with a mortal man. This did not set well with the queen of heaven and she separated the lovers by placing them on opposite banks of the river of heaven.

The bright star Vega is the heavenly maid and the red star Altair is the mortal she fell in love with. In your personal sky, Vega is the upper star of the giant X and Altair is the center star. The emperor of heaven took pity on the lovers and on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, he makes a bridge of birds so the lovers can be reunited. This festival is still celebrated in China today.

Cygnus the Swan

The bottom left star of the X, opposite Mars, doesn't figure in the Chinese legend. That's Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus the Swan. You should be able to make out the Swan's body as a line of stars that points from Deneb toward the zenith and also see another line of stars that crosses it at right angles near Deneb. That line is the Swan's wings and the Swan flies eternally south along the Milky Way.

And if you’ve had a stressful week, remember that looking up at Guam’s dark autumn skies is one of the most relaxing things you can do. Our sky is a rich feast, enjoy it tonight!